On February 14, 2008 Illinois Republican State Senator Matt Murphy introduced Senate Constitutional Amendment 80. As of June 5, 2008 it has not moved to a committee. This amendment would only affect Illinois General Assembly districts.

Under the proposed legislation, are single-member districts a requirement or otherwise implied?

There is no stated or implied requirement that districts be single-member.

Does the proposed legislation provide for Voting Rights Act compliance (e.g. can the commission use voter history information)?

Yes. The computer program selected by the board of elections may not use any “Demographic information not required to be used by this section or by the United States constitutional or federal law.” This information includes the residency of incumbent legislators, political affiliations of registered voters, and previous election results.

Under the proposed legislation, how is the commission formed?

The Illinois Board of Elections must select a redistricting computer program by a majority vote of its members. The program must randomly assign the districts and not allowed use certain demographic information listed above.

Under the proposed legislation, are competitive districts favored?

No. Competitive districts are not included in a list of factors that the computer program must use to create the new district map.

Under the proposed legislation, can members of the public submit plans?

No. The Board of Elections will announce the computer program chosen at a public meeting, although public comment is not listed as a necessity at this public meeting.

Does the proposed legislation allow for mid-decade redistricting?

No. After the computer program makes a new map it will not meet again until the year ending in one.

The U.S. House of Representatives has been at 435 members since 1911, when the country was a third of its current population. Research suggests that districts may now be getting too big for adequate representation.